What is Google AdWords?

Advertising through Google AdWords allows an immediate and targeted reach in relation to potential customers.  The ever changing applications within AdWords allow a more defined and effective campaign to be set up, run and adjusted in response to performance. Varying methods of campaign delivery and cost application ensure a totally flexible solution to paid advertising online.

How Can We Help?

Google AdWords is a powerful, cost effective way of promoting your business online – if planned and set up correctly.  Many people who contact us already have campaigns running and are looking to improve the ROI (return on investment) – we often review their campaigns and find that in a few simple steps we can save them a considerable money and ensure that their daily budget is spent wisely.

We have extensive knowledge and experience in setting up and running Google AdWords campaigns and can assist any business, in any market, with any budget.

We review/paln any campaign by:

• Fully reviewing campaign to date (in consultation with client regarding campaign goal specifics)
• Researching new keyphrases
• Creating new AdGroups more focused to the chosen phrases
• Re-grouping phrases
• Matching phrases correctly
• Reviewing daily budget and keyphrase CPC levels
• Creating multiple, effectively optimised AdText
• Reviewing delivery methods
• Scheduling campaign effectively
• Creating campaign reports to deliver as required
• Integrating campaign performance data with online marketing reporting

We can help you get more from Google AdWords | Contact Us Today

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• What is it?
• How does it benefit my business?
• How do I get started?
• How long do I spend per day/week?
• … and many more

Social Media (should) mean different things to different businesses – what channels to use and when, how long to spend, what type of content to put out and how to get involved in online conversations with potential customers.

Most of the answers depend on specific online business goals and a social media strategy should be planned around these, planning is everything along with monitoring and measuring the success of your efforts.

There are many companies that can help you with this but ultimately it is time and budget which drives business marketing decisions.  Being as informed as possible is the key when considering such an essential part of a  businesses online marketing – and to muddy the waters further, the face of social media marketing is constantly changing.

It is a core part of our ethos when providing SEO services to Scottish businesses that we keep our clients informed of changes to this marketing ‘landscape’ and provide information, content and links to all the key resources that will help their online marketing decisions.

With this in mind Jennifer Laycock, editor of The Search Engine Guide has recently posted a great article::
Understanding the Three Primary Goals of Social Media (highly recommended reading)

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When you make a search within Google you will note that more often than not the top results are related to ‘local business listing’ (including location maps).  We are regularly asked by our customers how to get their businesses listed in these results and what additional value it will have in relation to their sites’ SEO – the method of listing your business is easy (you just need a Google account) and the value in terms of SEO is huge and best of all … it’s free to list!

• How does it all work?
  
• How do I claim my listing?
  
• How do I make the most of it’s features?

Google have recently combined its Local Business Centre and Place Pages into one entity, and in addition added some new features.

In order help you get listed properly and make the most of the service, Google have recently published an in depth webinar explaining all. If you looking for more information or are new to the Google Business Centre/Google Places we highly recommend that you watch this, it really is a must see:

It is widely understood that your website should become the definitive online business/product range information repository and meet the requirements of all customers, markets and occasional site users.  The functionality should facilitate and enhance any online marketing activities e.g. links to business blog, social media pages/profiles and news/press article related pages.

A business blog is a key part of  any online marketing strategy and will create a point of connection with local and regional customers  – it is an essential ‘interest generator’, creating an online buzz about your business and introducing the news, new product information and offers to the target audience.

A business blog is an effective link generator – Google has recently adjusted its search engine results pages to include additional social media filters, allowing users to filter results by type such as blogs, news, video etc.  From this transition it is now widely recognised that Google index blog posts within a very short period of time – sometimes within hours! This change is extreme beneficial when considering SEO.

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Further Reading:

Getting Your Blog Posts Right
Blog Post Checklist: 10 Questions to Ask before you publish

Has your telephone number or email address changed as your business has grown?  Perhaps you have moved premises?  What about all the extra services you now provide and those ones that you no longer find cost effective to offer anymore?

When we first work with customers, especially accommodation providers, we urge that they search the net for all references to them and their business.  It is quite frightening to see what comes up sometimes i.e. room rates set at £25 when actually the price is now £50.  So now begins the work of tidying up and updating and in future keeping on top of it.

All a bit daunting and time consuming.  Well obviously you know that we can do it for you don’t you?  Whether it is you or us who carries out this work a good place to start is to have all your information in one place so you can copy and paste where required:

1. Business Name
2. Contact Name
3. Telephone Number
4. Email Address
5. Website Address
6. Services Provided
7. 10 / 50 / 100 / 500 word descriptions about your business

Once you have these in place then it is just a matter of trawling through every mention of you and your business, oh and a quick tip… don’t send every business listing or web link to your home page – send them to the most relevant page on your website for that particular directory or listing.  Another tip, make your first stop the Google Business Centre – absolutely imperative that this is completely up to date.

We are pleased to say they have asked Aviemore Business Solutions to assist them with their social media campaign including website SEO.  Their new website is having some adjustments to it as we speak that will assist us further with online marketing and they are ready for taking the business to a new level.

From estate agency to access logistics for windfarms, Bell Ingram can assist.    They already work with multinational companies such as BT and  Shell and we are pleased to be able to call them a customer.  Watch this space for ongoing news of their acheivements ….. and if you are looking to buy or sell your home then dont forget to call in the experts at Bell Ingram.   You can also follow them on Twitter and become a friend on Facebook.

With Google Local listings taking the top spot in most searches, it’s critical that you claim a listing for your business. Once done it is essential that your listing is set up correctly – below we have included some guidelines to help you:

• Claim and update your listing (and only one listing) – make sure the description is as relevant and keyword rich, in relation to your products and services, as possible. Select the correct business category and make sure you use all contact numbers complete with area codes. Include any additional content in line with other web listings to ensure continuity.

• Upload images and videos – ensure that you have logos and images of any products in relation to your business type.  Place description tags for each but don’t overdo it and avoid ‘spammy’ labels

• Cultivate Reviews – this is good for user recommendation – other will be more likely to buy from a previously used and endorsed source, this is your opportunity to get business via online ‘word of mouth’. Encourage your client base to use your business listing as a point to leave reviews and refer to them in additional listings and blog posts

• “More about this place” – This section is a listing of mentions on the web that Google consider to be relevant and authoritive. It will usually list key listings, blog entries and social media profiles.  This provides the user with a point of reference to find additional information about your business.

• User Content – this section lists additional user generated resources & mentions of your website and will list mainly sites that allow users to tag and mention additional sources such as Flickr, Google maps and Wikipedia

The Google Local listings are a very powerful (free) resource available via your Google account and we cannot stress enough the value of getting this right.  So, make time to ensure your listing is as good as it can be – and if you don’t have the time, we are happy to help you or do it for you – contact us now.

This sounds like a great solution if you have been made redundant, recently retired or want a year off to do something different.  Oh and did I mention that TEFL isnt all about teaching in another country.  What about all the people in your local community who need to learn English?

If all of this sounds too good to be true then why not take a look at their website TEFL Scotland – if you are in our southern neighbourhood then you can look at TEFL England – all in all there is a centre near you that can help you gain a new skill…. and why are we interested?  Because we have just started working with them on their Search Engine Optimisation and social media campaigns so no doubt we will be blogging further so watch this space for interesting articles.  If you would like more immediate information then you can follow TEFLScotland on Twitter.

Friends and new customers David & Angela took the stand to pull out of Visit Scotland, the RAC and any other accommodation association and they havent looked back.  Less stress, less money but definitely not less visitors.

We all know why it is good to be in these associations i.e. recognised standards for the general public with the grading system.  However, what many of the public are not aware of are the constant discrepancies in the star system and the additional finances required to get to a standard only to be told you miss it by 1 point.  That’s why, after tears and angry discussions with Visit Scotland amoungst others, David & Angela made the brave move to leave VisitScotland.  So, have they regreted it?  Most certainly not – and with the money they have saved they have gone and got themselves a brand new website.

Why not have a look for yourselves – my particular favourite pages on the new website are the facilities page which shows the quirky life size bears – something every guest comments on apparently – and the contact page which shows Arnie & Archie, the resident ‘boys’ who will welcome any weary traveller into the warm and cosy, friendly bed and breakfast.  So if you are up in this area and need somewhere to stay that gives you something just a little bit special then the Garden Park Guest House is the place for you.

The Early Years – offline marketing

Tracking the return on marketing spend

Before I started my own SEO & Internet marketing company I worked in the hotel business for over 20 years and latterly up until 2003 in the marketing of hotels.  One of my tasks was to source associations, organisations and companies such as Visit Scotland, the AA, Best Loved Hotels – that would work to raise the profile of the hotel whilst generating enquiries that would create bookings.

In order to merit the annual fees these sources had to generate business and it was a difficult task ensuring that each enquiry/booking could be attributed to a referring source. The correct processes and procedures had to be in place in order to ensure that all enquiries were sourced correctly – and human error played it’s part to muddy the waters!

In the early years most of the associative marketing activities were done offline but as time has gone on this has changed and online marketing has become the key business driver of any hotel or accommodation provider – gone too are the days of large budgets available to hotels in an ever more competitive market.

Online Marketing – taking control

online marketing - hotels and accommodation providers

Most (if not all!) hotels and accommodation providers have websites and many have taken control of their own online marketing.  Arguably cheaper and more effective than offline (traditional marketing) many have sought the help of companies like ours who understand their industry and can provide effective SEO (search engine optimisation) in order to achieve good search engine rankings and stay competitive within their market sector.

Whatever the activity, whoever provides the service and whoever your business is listed with online – all must be able to be measured in terms of what business through enquiries and bookings is being generated.

Many of the services purchased in the pursuit of effective online marketing are ‘untried’, you will have only heard about their ability and effectiveness to generate business – whether through recommendation or word of mouth.

Measuring Online Success – ROI (return on investment)

You must be in a position whereby you can make an informed decision as to the ongoing validity of continuing to use a particular online marketing service and for this you must be able to measure its success – each must pay its way!

If I pay company £X /year to be listed on company Y’s website and it generates £Z in business, my ROI is ABC%

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In part 2 | How to – measure your online marketing efforts

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